The DC Comics Time Capsule: December 1961

Osgood Peabody wrote:Were JLA's sales really slipping by late '61? I had always assumed they were pretty strong, because they increased its frequency to 8 per year around that time.

"Slipping" is a relative term. No, the JLA title was nowhere near going down the drain, but its sales in late '61 had started to sag from its early high rate. That's what prompted Julius Schwartz to meet with publisher Jack Liebowitz and make the argument that the popular Superman and Batman should take a larger part in the stories. Liebowitz agreed, prompting his caustic remark for Schwartz to go back to Mort Weisinger and Jack Schiff and tell them, "Superman and Batman belong to DC Comics and not Mort Weisinger and Jack Schiff!"

Osgood Peabody wrote:Good observation about Fox's use (or lack thereof) of J'onn Jonnz's unique abilities. It's too bad that Schiff decided to make him into a more generic hero - his original powers would have served him better in JLA stories. I think there might have been one other story where he used his morphing abilities to stretch his arms a la Elongated Man!

I had to go back and reconstrict my list; the post in which I originally itemised the few times that Fox depicted the Manhunter using his more esoteric powers has long evapourated into the cyber-ether. During Fox's tenure as JLA writer, J'onn J'onzz used his unique powers only nine times (which is more than most folks remember).

■ Brave and the Bold # 28---when he transforms from his Earth identity of detective John Jones into the Manhunter from Mars

Fox deserves more credit than I gave him, as my memory (wrongly) suggested to me that in his JLA tales the Martian Manhunter almost never used any of his unique (at least as compared with, say, Superman) powers and abilities, but instead relied mainly on flight, super-strength, and super-breath!

Seattleguy: Pretty amazing when you think about how many women read comics back in the day. I don't doubt that if the publishers today took a long hard listen to what women want, they would be able to increase their female audience. Sequential storytelling is something that definitely holds appeal for all!

Jacque Nodell wrote:Thanks everyone, glad you enjoyed my run down of Falling in Love #49!

Seattleguy: Pretty amazing when you think about how many women read comics back in the day. I don't doubt that if the publishers today took a long hard listen to what women want, they would be able to increase their female audience. Sequential storytelling is something that definitely holds appeal for all!

Hepcat: I like that first story the best too!

Nice review.

I've checked out your blogs for a while now so it's nice to see you posting some material here too.

I have a question for you though. You had something posted about the 1974 DC comic below relating to a early lesbian mention. Which comic is it?

Commander benson wrote:The problem was Jack Schiff, the editor of the Manhunter from Mars series, really wasn’t quite sure himself what his character could and couldn’t do. At least, he wasn’t consistent. As I said, the mental powers dropped away around 1958, and some of the others worked one way in some stories, and another way in others. Sometimes J’onn J’onzz retained all of his powers when he was in his Earth form of detective John Jones; other times, he was a normal human as Jones.

That just constitutes more anecdotal evidence that Jack Schiff was a sloppy editor with no more than a passing interest in doing his job properly. "Huh, what the hell does it matter? These comics are just for kids anyway."

Jacque Nodell wrote:
Thanks everyone, glad you enjoyed my run down of Falling in Love #49!

Hepcat: I like that first story the best too!

Which comics outside of the romance genre do you collect? Do you have a good collection of both Alan Scott and Hal Jordan Green Lantern comics? And which villainess do you prefer, Harlequin or Star Sapphire?

TODD TAMANEND CLARK wrote:Jacque, do you have any favorite beat generation romance stories from the late 1950s/early 1960s or countercultural romance stories from the late 1960s/early 1970s?

I have been meaning to have a counterculture/hippy/swingers week! I guess I should put that in the works soon! Most of the counterculture stories I have posted thus far revolve around the Women's Movement - so more social issues than counterculture really. You may be interested in the Woodstock festival themed stories I posted a while back. The Jonnie Love stories from Charlton are quite good. See the blog As Told to Stan Lee for a few of those!

Jacque Nodell wrote:
Thanks everyone, glad you enjoyed my run down of Falling in Love #49!

Hepcat: I like that first story the best too!

Which comics outside of the romance genre do you collect? Do you have a good collection of both Alan Scott and Hal Jordan Green Lantern comics? And which villainess do you prefer, Harlequin or Star Sapphire?

My collection includes '70s horror, late '60s/early '70s Supergirl Adventure Comics, goofy Silver Age stuff, a full run of Dazzler... to name a few things! My other area of study involves the Kirby monster books, so I collect those titles as well -- although the '70s reprints (Monsters on the Prowl, etc.) are more in my price range! I don't really have a lot of GL comics, just a few I have acquired over the years here and there... and the Harlequin (Molly Mayne!) all the way!

seattleguy wrote:Jacque, Do you think that there is a market for Romance comics today?

Oh sure, why not? I think as long as the art was amazing and the story was strong, then lots of people would dig it. There are certainly many people who read romance novels and people who want non-superhero comics. So as long as it was well constructed and marketed correctly, I think a romance comic would go over well.

TODD TAMANEND CLARK wrote:Jacque, do you have any favorite beat generation romance stories from the late 1950s/early 1960s or countercultural romance stories from the late 1960s/early 1970s?

I have been meaning to have a counterculture/hippy/swingers week! I guess I should put that in the works soon! Most of the counterculture stories I have posted thus far revolve around the Women's Movement - so more social issues than counterculture really. You may be interested in the Woodstock festival themed stories I posted a while back. The Jonnie Love stories from Charlton are quite good. See the blog As Told to Stan Lee for a few of those!

Thanks so much, Jacque! Do you have any Native American romance stories that you would recommend?

seattleguy wrote:Jacque, Do you think that there is a market for Romance comics today?

Oh sure, why not? I think as long as the art was amazing and the story was strong, then lots of people would dig it. There are certainly many people who read romance novels and people who want non-superhero comics. So as long as it was well constructed and marketed correctly, I think a romance comic would go over well.

The people working in comics today probably couldn't pull it off. They would need to pull someone outside of comics who understands the format today to write it and someone who can draw something beyond big boobs for 45 year old boys going on 12.

A comic publisher today would have to start from scratch. Matt Baker has left the building.

Romance novels still sell big today though.

Romance Literature Statistics: Overview

Explore the results of Romance Writers of America's market research study on romance reader demographics and the romance fiction industry. These statistics offer insights to help you share in this billion-dollar-a-year industry.

Popularity of Romance Fiction

(source: Business of Consumer Book Publishing 2011)

Romance fiction generated $1.358 billion in sales in 2010.

8,240 new romance titles were released in 2010.

Romance fiction sales are estimated at $1.368 billion for 2011.

74.8 million people read at least one romance novel in 2008. (source: RWA Reader Survey)

Market Share of Romance Fiction

(source: Business of Consumer Book Publishing 2011)

Romance fiction was the largest share of the U.S. consumer market in 2010 at 13.4 percent.

sterlling wrote:
The people working in comics today probably couldn't pull it off. They would need to pull someone outside of comics who understands the format today to write it and someone who can draw something beyond big boobs for 45 year old boys going on 12.

Well as they say, you're never too old to have a happy childhood!

I have no problem with the size of the breasts being drawn these days. Whatever size they are will do just fine. The problem I have currently is that breasts mostly look like they've been implanted. I mean Starfire's breasts don't look at all attractive the way they're drawn these days:

I want to again thank Jacque and Commander for their contributions to the capsule this month.

And if anyone else out there has a hankering to review, say, the Joe Kubert Cave Carson story, or Bat-Mite's team-up with Mr. Mxyzptlk, by all means, go for it! Don't worry if you don't have a scanner - I'd be happy to provide any images if needed.

As for me, I'll be taking a look at a title that we haven't paid much attention to in our Time Capsules to date...

Coming later this week: Multi-Mania!

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"As for contentment, that is a myth. Give a man everything he wishes and he will be unhappy, because he didn't wish for more; give him more, and he will die of his worries. Only a turtle, asleep on a sunny log, knows contentment!" -Merlin to Prince Valiant

There seems to be this perception that Challengers of the Unknown had a huge drop-off once Jack Kirby departed from the title after issue #8. However, from the stories that I've sampled, I've not found that to be the case. While Bob Brown may not have been Kirby, he was a pretty good artist, and once Arnold Drake came on board as writer, the stories were quite entertaining. And the best of those stories always seemed to center around a guy named Duncan Pramble...

"Multi-Man, Master of Earth"

Writer: Arnold Drake

Artist: Bob Brown

The story begins in the Challengers' cave HQ, where three of the group tensely await news from Ace and Rocky on the whereabouts of their arch-foe Multi-Man:

We then get a flashback to Multi-Man's previous escapades. We hear of how Duncan Pramble first acquired a vial of liquid light that allowed him to transform into amazing life-forms. He later acquired a super-brain, and a rather withered looking body [This would be Multi-Man's fourth go-round, and each of his appearances had built upon the prior ones].

Ace and Rocky have tracked down their nemesis to a remote island in the South Pacific. Prof agrees to stay behind in the lab to work on an antidote to Multi-Man's powers that worked in a previous clash, while the others take off in pursuit.

Meanwhile, we find that Multi-Man has made another leap forward in mastering his abilities:

In the pouch around his neck, he has numerous pellets that he can take to instantly morph into different forms. He demonstrates to his gang by swallowing a red pill which transforms him into an energy being, and zapping a nearby volcano. The Challs arrive to witness the explosion, and through binoculars are able to see how their arch-foe is now able to change his shape at will.

Later, under cover of darkness, the group splits into two pairs to approach Multi-Man's stronghold. Ace and Rocky get there first and immediately try a frontal assault:

[It's never really explained what Multi-Man's green pill did - maybe he's supposed to be full of helium?]

Losing the element of surprise, the two Challengers beat a hasty retreat, and Rocky attempts to hold off pursuit by using a nearby torch to set fire to the grass next to the camp. But their foe easily counters this maneuver by making like a sponge:

After taking the pair captive, Multi-Man brags to them about how he will soon be emperor of Earth. Rocky laughs at him, but MM assures him he is deadly serious:

Shades of Jax-Ur! Will this guy really blow up the moon? As it turns out, it causes a huge explosion on the lunar surface. Multi-Man feels this will send enough of a message to earth's leaders, and he prepares to depart to deliver his ultimatum. But first, he needs a mineral in the nearby mountain. Apparently, one fault in his powers is that he loses his brain powers when he changes to another form, and this mineral will allow him to fix that problem. MM departs the camp, leaving a detachment of two guards, but that proves to be a mistake as Red and June now appear on the scene and quickly dispatch them and free their buddies. [Rather careless of Multi-Man here - he had to know the other Challs were lurking around somewhere!]

The four Challs now chase after their foe, and catch up to him just as he's swallowed the mineral cure and become a super-smart energy being:

Prof now approaches, but MM makes short work of the copter:

But as Prof leaps from the aircraft with a handy parachute, he's able to get close enough to Multi-Man to splash some of the antidote on him, sending MM into a death-dive:

The Challs explore the explosion site, and are astounded to see that their foe has survived the fall. But it's brought about yet another change to him:

So Multi-Man is apparently a changed man. But we all know how those things usually turn out, don't we?

What can I say - I have a soft spot for these MM tales. I love how Drake built each Multi-Man tale upon the previous one, upping the ante each time. The character's amorphous nature really allowed him to cut loose with these stories, and they were always a highlight of the early 60s Challs.

And Bob Brown did some nice work here too, particularly with the fight scenes.

All in all, not a bad little story.

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"As for contentment, that is a myth. Give a man everything he wishes and he will be unhappy, because he didn't wish for more; give him more, and he will die of his worries. Only a turtle, asleep on a sunny log, knows contentment!" -Merlin to Prince Valiant